BitShares

Bitshares, formerly known as Protoshares, was created in 2014 by Dan Larimer, also known as Bytemaster, popular in the crypto industry as the co-founder of Steemit, EOS and Cryptonomex. Bitshares is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange based on the Delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm. Dan Larimer is also the inventor of the DPoS algorithm.

Bitshares is based on an open-source C++ blockchain implementation called as Graphene. Bitshares works under Decentralized Autonomous Company (DAC) which also allows Bitshares (BTS) holders to participate in the governance and decision-making. Bitshares (BTS) is the native cryptocurrency of the Bitshares ecosystem used in transactions and other medium of exchanges.

Bitshares ecosystem has ‘Witnesses’ which are tasked to group the transactions into blocks and add them to Bitshares blockchain. Witnesses are rewarded with BTS rewards on completing this task and build their reputation for acting honestly. Better the reputation of a Witness, more the chances of becoming a block generator.

Bitshares issues market-pegged tokenized assets like bitUSD, bitGold, bitEUR, and bitSilver which have their corresponding assets collateralized in Bitshares’s treasury. These tokens are called ‘Smartcoins’ and their values are algorithmically adjusted to the market value of the real assets. Other than cryptos, you can trade silver, gold, oil, stocks, and many other crypto-based derivatives.